Download SECTION 4 - Wisconsin Labor History Society

SECTION
4
American Labor History
Time Line
1640s First guilds form in the colonies
1700s Trade workers continue to form societies and organizations
1724 Carpenter’s Company of Philadelphia chartered to assist in carpenter instruction and wellbeing.
1775 United Company of Philadelphia for Promoting American Manufacturing employs 400
women in one shop, foreshadowing future industrialization
1776 Declaration of Independence signed in Carpenter Hall, Philadelphia, which was built by
Carpenter’s Company.
1780—1800 Early strikes and walkouts by shoemakers, carpenters, and printers
1820s Industrial workers think about organizing; women begin to organize
1827 First citywide labor council formed (Philadelphia)
First all-women factory strike: In Dover, New Hampshire, female mill workers walk off
their jobs at the Cocheco mill when the company imposes several new policies, including a
12.5 cent fine for tardiness, the introduction of a blacklist, and a ban on talking on the job.
The policies are later withdrawn.
1840 Ten-hour day without reduction in pay proclaimed by President Van Buren for all federal
employees on public works.
1842 Connecticut and Massachusetts pass laws prohibiting children from working more than 10
hours a day.
1847 New Hampshire becomes the first state to make the 10-hour day the legal workday
1848 Child labor law in Pennsylvania makes 12 the minimum age for workers in commercial
occupations
1852 The Typographical Union founded—the first to endure until the present
1860 Successful strike of 20,000 shoemakers in New England. Abraham Lincoln, in support of
the strikers, says, “Thank God that we have a system of labor where there can be a strike.”
1867 Knights of St. Crispin, a union of shoemakers, founded in Milwaukee. It was the nation’s
largest union until its demise during the Panic of 1873.
1868 First federal eight-hour-day law passes; applies only to laborers, mechanics, and workmen
employed by the government
1874 Union label first used, by Cigar Makers International Union
LESSONS IN LABOR HISTORY
1881 Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions formed in Pittsburgh; forerunner of the
American Federation of Labor
1882 First Labor Day celebration held in New York City
1886 Bay View Tragedy: Seven workers killed by state militia while on peaceful march for
establishing the eight-hour day (Wisconsin’s worst labor violence) American Federation of
Labor (AFL) formed with Samuel Gompers as president.
Violence erupts following a mysterious explosion at Haymarket Square in Chicago during a
rally in support of the eight-hour workday
1887
1888
1893
1897
1898
1900
1900—1905
1903
1906
1907
1911
1912
1913
1914
1924
Seven accused in the Haymarket explosion are sentenced to death; five executed later
First federal labor-relations law passed; applies only to rail companies
Wisconsin State Federation of Labor founded (predecessor of Wisconsin State AFL-CIO)
Formation of Socialist Party in Milwaukee, which helped to develop much progressive
action in Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin
Citywide strike of woodworkers in Oshkosh from May 6 through August 19 puts
thousands of workers on strike against most major industrialists and civic leaders of city.
One striker killed in a melee. Conspiracy charges placed on union leaders, but beaten back
after dramatic trial led by famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow.
International Ladies Garment Workers Union founded
Strikes by paper workers to have Saturday night “off” first won, then lost in mills as
employers bust union efforts
Blue-collar and middle-class women unite to form the National Women’s Trade Union
League at the annual AFL Convention. Mary Morton Kehew is elected president; Jane
Addams is elected vice-president.
The Department of Commerce and Labor is founded Mother Jones (Mary Harris Jones)
leads the March of the Mill Children to President Theodore Roosevelt’s home in New
York; many of the children are victims of industrial accidents
Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle, which effectively exposes the unsafe and unclean
aspects of the Chicago meatpacking industry
The Supreme Court rules that female-maximum-hour laws are constitutional due to a
woman’s “physical structure and ... maternal functions”
First workers’ compensation law in United States established in Wisconsin The Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory fire takes the lives of nearly 150 workers, mostly young women, who are
unable to escape due in part to locked doors and sealed windows
Massachusetts adopts the first minimum wage law for women and minors
U.S. Department of Labor established; Secretary of Labor given power to “act as a mediator
and to appoint commissioners of conciliation in labor disputes”
Wives and children of striking miners are set aflame when national guardsmen attack their
tent colony during a strike against the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company; event referred to
as the Ludlow Massacre
An amendment to the Constitution restricting child labor is proposed, but not enough
states pass the measure for enactment
70
AMERICAN LABOR HISTORY TIME LINE
1931 The Davis-Bacon Act provides for the payment of the prevailing wage to employees
of contractors and subcontractors on public works construction
1932 Wisconsin creates the first unemployment compensation act in the United States
1935 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union founded in
Madison; now one of largest unions in the nation
The Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act) establishes the first national labor
policy protecting the right of workers to organize and to elect their representatives
for collective bargaining
Social Security Act adopted
Committee for Industrial Organization (ClO) formed within the AFL to foster
industrial unionism
1936 First large sit-down strike, by United Rubber Workers at Goodyear Tire
1936—1939 Workers organize into unions after passage of Wagner Act; hundreds of thousands
join, from Kenosha to Superior, making Wisconsin one of most heavily unionized
states and bringing top wages and benefits to all workers in state
1937 The ClO is expelled from the AFL over charges of dual unionism/competition
1938 The old ClO becomes the Congress of Industrial Organizations with John L. Lewis
as its president
1941 The United States enters World War II; the AFL and CIO announce a no-strike
pledge for the duration of the war
1944 There are 18,600,000 union members in the United States; 3,500,000 are women
1946—1947 A long strike at Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company in West Allis becomes a
national symbol of the struggle for shop floor rights and the debate over the role of
communism in unions. The strike by United Automobile Workers (UAW) Local
248 is one of the most memorable in the history of U.S. unions.
1947 Congress passes the Taft-Hartley Act, which restricts union activities and permits
states to pass right-to-work laws
1948 The federal government holds its first conference on industrial safety
1949 An amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 directly prohibits child
labor for the first time
1952 President Truman takes control of the steel industry when companies reject the
Wage Stabilization Board’s recommendations; an eight-week strike follows when the
Supreme Court finds the President’s action unconstitutional
1955 The AFL and the ClO are reunited under the leadership of George Meany, bringing
together about 85 percent of all union members
1957 AFL-CIO expels Bakery Workers, Laundry Workers, and Teamsters for corruption
1958 Wisconsin State AFL-CIO created through merger of State Federation of Labor and
Wisconsin CIO
1959 Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (Wisconsin statute 111.70) passed in
Wisconsin, making the state one of first in nation to recognize right of public
employees to organize and bargain collectively. Later, 111.80 was added, giving
rights to organize to Wisconsin teachers.
The Landrum-Griffen Act (Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act)
passed by Congress; regulates the internal affairs of unions to avoid corruption
71
LESSONS IN LABOR HISTORY
1962 Federal employee unions given the right to bargain collectively with government agencies as
a result of President Kennedy’s executive order
1963 The Equal Pay Act prohibits wage differences for workers based on sex
1963—1970 Migrant farmworkers organize in Wisconsin, aided by widespread support of unions, AFLCIO, church groups, and others
1965 The Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin
1965 Long strike by UAW at Kohler Company, begun in 1954, ends with union and company
establishing peaceful relations
1968 The Age Discrimination in Employment Act goes into effect, prohibiting discrimination in
hiring or firing of persons between 40 and 65 on the basis of age
1969 First mass postal strike in the history of the U.S. Postal Service
1970 Congress passes the Occupational Safety and Health Act
1981 Most of the nation’s air traffic controllers fired by President Reagan
1993 Family and Medical Leave Act passed by Congress. Strongly supported by labor unions.
Requires most employers to provide 12 weeks unpaid leave for workers to care for a
newborn, adopt or provide foster care, care for a family member, or recover from illness.
1995 John 1 Sweeney elected president of the AFL-CIO at the federation’s biennial convention in
October. At the time of his election, he was serving his fourth four-year term as president of
SEIU, which grew from 625,000 to 1.1 million members under his leadership.
1997 Teamster Union has national strike against United Parcel Service, ending with greater
benefits and rights for Teamster members. One of the first successful strikes since Reagan’s
dismissal of striking PATCO air traffic controllers.
1999 Labor unionists from all over United States join with civil rights and environmental activists
to force World Trade Organization negotiators in Seattle to provide consideration for labor,
human, and environmental rights in making trade decisions
72